Walker stands by Celtic criticism

08 August 2010 11:32
Former Celtic striker Andy Walker stands by his criticism of Neil Lennon, despite coming under retaliatory fire from the Hoops' boss.[LNB] Walker, now a pundit, claimed Celtic's Champions League campaign "ended with a whimper" as they lost 4-2 on aggregate to Braga in the third qualifying round and he also criticised Lennon's transfer record.[LNB]The Parkhead boss reacted angrily, claiming Walker had been "economical with the truth" about transfers in to Celtic and Lennon used various statistics to suggest the 2-1 second-leg win over Braga at Parkhead on Wednesday was merited.[LNB]However Walker, in his Sunday Mail column, refused to back down and added further criticism of the Celtic board.[LNB]He said: "If Neil Lennon takes the time to snap back at all the criticism of Celtic this season, he's in for a torrid campaign.[LNB]"I stand by all the comments that annoyed the Hoops boss after the Euro defeat by Braga.[LNB]"Any team that is 4-0 down on aggregate with just over 30 minutes left of the tie has gone out with a whimper.[LNB]"If Neil wants to deal in stats, there wasn't a single Celtic shot on target in the first half.[LNB]"Unfortunately Neil missed the point I was trying to make about the club's signing policy.[LNB]"Recruiting players from Mexico, Korea and Israel to tap into the potential commercial spin-offs doesn't give him the priority when it comes to signings."[LNB]"As for the criticism of Celtic skipper Scott Brown" Walker continued, "in my book, he has been a huge disappointment since signing.[LNB]"Brown hasn't influenced enough big games to justify his £4.5million fee or reputation.[LNB]"Criticism is part of football, especially at Celtic, and my general point was about boardroom interference on too many football issues at Parkhead.[LNB]"That was summed up by the club's ridiculous pursuit of Finland coach Stuart Baxter.[LNB]"Here is a man who was linked with every job in Scotland for more than a decade and eventually became a joke figure.[LNB]"Yet somehow the Parkhead board thought it would be a good idea to bring him in as a part-time adviser to Lennon.[LNB]"The Hoops boss was made to look foolish by the club when he announced Baxter would be a part-time consultant.[LNB]"Just 24 hours later the furious Finnish FA denied any agreement was in place and Celtic were forced to change their story."

Source: Team_Talk